Hamlet and the Magic Beanstalk Play Script

Hamlet and the Magic Beanstalk is a comedic adaptation that brilliantly combines Shakespeare’s Hamlet with Grimms’ Jack and The Giant Beanstalk! In this twisted version, Hamlet returns home to learn that his father has mysteriously died and the Harp and Golden Goose have also been stolen. His mother tells him that they are part of a magical trinity that keep the crops and trees producing in the village. To make matters worse, his mother Gertrude is marrying his uncle, Claudius! She tells Hamlet to sell his favorite cow, Bessie, but when he heads to town, he meets his father’s ghost. He asks Hamlet for Bessie and offers him magic beans to help him solve the mystery of his death and the theft of the village’s prized belongings. Hamlet will climb the enormous beanstalk and meet some interesting and familiar characters along the way. An entertaining mystery for teens with Giant-sized laughs!

Kioomars “Q-Mars” Ghanbari Azar is from Iran and has a B.A. in Dramatic Literature and a M.A in Directing. He has won over 10 awards from different Iranian festivals. His plays include,

Clouds, Bitter, Like the Blood in Yerma’s Veins (based on Lorca’s masterpiece), The Fink, and –Oldooz and the Crows.

Masoud Shakarami is from Iran and has a B.A. in dramatic literature. Masoud’s study has focused on mythology and mythological literature. He has worked as a playwright, director and actor since 2006 and has been nominated and won several awards as a playwright and actor.

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Hamlet………………………………….a boy
Claudius………………………………….Hamlet’s Uncle
Gertrude…………………………………Hamlet’s Mother
Ophelia……………………………………a girl
The Giant
Constable Horatio
Constable Bernardo
VVV and WWW………………………….the strange twins!
Bessie………………………..………..…….a cow
Hamlet’s Father…………………….a ghost

Scene 1: The House of Hamlet’s Father

(Gertrude, in a black dress, is doing her daily works. Hamlet enters, in a black suit and with some suitcases in his hands.)

HAMLET
Hello, Mom! I’m back…

GERTRUDE
Hamlet! Darling! You’re here…

HAMLET
(Suddenly starts crying.) Mom!

GERTRUDE
(Hugs Hamlet.) Darling! My darling! (She starts crying too!)

HAMLET
As soon as I heard the news, I packed up and moved…

GERTRUDE
My poor son! Don’t cry!

Hamlet
You’re also crying!

GERTRUDE
Me?! (Suddenly starts crying much aloud!) I loved your father so much…

HAMLET
(His crying also goes aloud!) I loved my father so much too…

GERTRUDE
So cry, Son! Cry!

HAMLET
(Cries aloud.) Father! Father! Father! (A little calmer) Mom?! When I was living here, Father was so healthy… So what happened that…suddenly…?!

GERTRUDE
Since you left here, some weird and strange things have happened…

HAMLET
What things?!

GERTRUDE
First of all, The Magic Harp was stolen…!

HAMLET
What?! The Magic Harp was stolen?!

GERTRUDE
Yeah… And then they stole The Golden‐Egg Goose…

HAMLET
I can’t believe it! The Golden‐Egg Goose has been stolen too?!

GERTRUDE
Yes, my son! It was really horrible! We had a really bad time!

HAMLET
And… then?!

GERTRUDE
Then… Then your poor father died of sorrow of The Harp and The Goose having been stolen…

HAMLET
My father died of sorrow?! That’s it?!

GERTRUDE
What do you mean, Hamlet?!

HAMLET
Why didn’t my father do anything to find The Harp and The Goose?!

GERTRUDE
He didn’t “do anything”?! He searched every single place in the village… We even called the police… They couldn’t “do anything” either! It seemed like The Magic Harp and The Golden‐Egg Goose had gone to the sky like smoke…

HAMLET
My poor father…! How he used to love that Harp and that Goose…!

GERTRUDE
Yeah…but “loving” wasn’t the only matter. That Harp and that Goose, as your father always used to say, were the reason of blessing and fertility of this village.

HAMLET
Blessing and fertility?! What do you mean?!

GERTRUDE
It means that they made our farms and gardens give us good delicious products… Golden wheat, green and fruitful trees, juicy fruits…

HAMLET
I see…! On my way home, I saw that lots of our trees had dried up and lost their leaves… So it’s because of The Magic Harp and The Golden‐Egg Goose having been stolen…

GERTRUDE
Yes, Son, it is…

HAMLET
Thank God that all of the trees haven’t dried up and people still have things to eat…!

GERTRUDE
Well, it’s probably because of the “third one”…!

HAMLET
The third one?! What third one?!

GERTRUDE
Your late father used to say that in addition to The Harp and The Goose, there is something else which brings us fertility and blessing… Actually, these three should always be together to make our village happy and prosperous…

HAMLET
Well… What’s that “third thing”?!

GERTRUDE
No one knows! Only your father did!